Second stop on 2009 Bassmaster Elite Series Trail
For The Courier
The 2009 Bassmaster Elite Series brings BASS back to an old friend — Lake Dardanelle and the Arkansas River Valley — for this weekend’s Diamond Drive out of Russellville.
The last BASS tournament here was a 2007 Bassmaster Major won by Boyd Duckett of Demopolis, Ala., not long after his 2007 Bassmaster Classic victory. Duckett’s four-day total weight for the event was 55 pounds, 9 ounces.
The Diamond Drive includes a top prize of $100,000 and awards valuable points in the 2009 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year title race. Fans are encouraged to attend daily launches at 7:15 a.m. and weigh-ins at 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday at Lake Dardanelle State Park.
The field of 100 anglers will be cut to the top 50 anglers before day-three competition begins Saturday. Only the top 12 will go on to compete in Sunday’s final day.
Lake Dardanelle and its 34,300 acres has hosted five BASS events. Duckett’s August 2007 victory came together on the final day of competition, after he struggled to find the bite in deeper water on day three. He switched to a heavy jig – a Tru Tungsten flipped to shallow grass mats. He also used a 3?16-ounce Tru Tungsten jig with a 7-inch, electric blue Berkley Power Worm.
Two years later, second-year Elite Series pro Clark Reehm of Russellville said anglers should expect an entirely different fishery.
“Most of the grass is dead, it hasn’t grown yet,” Reehm said. “And the water temp is 52 to 54 degrees. There are very few limits being weighed in at local tournaments.”
He added the pros who have been to Dardanelle in the past might rely on 40-50 fish caught a day, but the bounty won’t be that plentiful in the Diamond Drive.
“Granted this is the Elites, but if the fish aren’t there, they aren’t there. Even the short fish – usually you catch 20-50 short fish, and it doesn’t seem like people are catching even that many.”
Reehm, who has five top-10 finishes in BASS competition, anticipates a lot of action on Spinnerbaits or jigs, noting the trick will be to get keepers to bite. He predicts an overall weight of 70-75 pounds to win the tournament.
“About 17-18 pounds a day,” he said. “A lot of guys will come in without limits. Usually this time of year there are about 90 limits, but this time there might be 40-50 limits, just judging from local tournaments that have happened lately.”
Reehm said given the time of the year, most of the pros will be shallow and the lake will fish small.
“It’s a river system, so the fish are shallow anyway, except in the summer,” he said. “There might be a river bite, but for the most part guys will be in backwater bays. It’s probably going to be won on water that’s real difficult to get into.”
Reehm lives about six minutes from the boat ramp on Lake Dardanelle, though he said he has no local advantage on the lake. In fact, he predicted Kevin Short and Billy McCaghren, two Elite pros from Mayflower who have fished Lake Dardanelle all their lives, will be the ones to beat in the Diamond Drive.
Other events Saturday and Sunday will include dog training and retriever demonstrations sponsored by Sport Dog at 1 p.m. at the state park. Fans are invited to join the “Ask the Experts” session with the Elite pros during Bassmaster University at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Sunday’s activities include the live taping of Hooked Up, hosted by ESPN Outdoors personalities Mark Zona and Tommy Sanders. The show, which will air live at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN360.com, will preview Sunday’s final weigh-in.
Local sponsors of the Diamond Drive is the state of Arkansas and Russellville A&P Commission. Sponsors of the Bassmaster Elite Series: Toyota Trucks, Berkley, BOOYAH Baits, Evan Williams Bourbon, Mercury, OPTIMA Batteries, Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Marine; Bass Pro Shops, Costa Del Mar, Ramada, SpongeTech and Triton Bass Boats.
Fishing fans can catch all of the on-the-water action from the Diamond Drive on The Bassmasters, which airs at 8 a.m. April 4 on ESPN2. The daily weigh-ins for this and all other regular-season Elite events and two postseason events will be live on ESPN360.com, ESPN’s broadband sports network, while a wealth of unique content will also be available at Bassmaster.com.

From: www.couriernews.com